Free People

I am teaching you words:

Guard (the Commands
and Prohibitions of) Allah, He will guard you.

Guard (the Rights
of) Allah, you will find Him before you.

When you ask, ask
Allah.

When you seek help,
seek it from Allah.

Know that if people gather
together to benefit you with something, they will not benefit you except with
something that Allah has destined for you.

And if they gather
together to harm you with something, they will not harm you except with
something that Allah has destined for you.

The pens have been
lifted and the pages have dried.1

This is the human dignity that Prophet Muhammad r protected and fought
for. In word and action, he r broke all idols within the heart2 to
liberate souls.

You belong to Allah
Alone, and to Him you shall return.

No one has power over you. (All
power belongs to Allah.)3

No one can forgive your sins.

Benefit or harm you.

Cause you to die or live.

Provide
for you from
the heavens or the earth.

No one can except your
Creator U: (To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens
and the earth. He gives life and causes death. And you have not besides Allah
any protector or helper.)4

Other than Him are
helpless beings: (They have taken besides Him gods that create
nothing, while they are created, and possess not for themselves any harm or
benefit, and possess not (power to cause) death or life or resurrection.)5

He U Alone hears. He U
Alone responds: (Verily, those
on whom you call besides Allah cannot create (even) a fly, even though they
gather together for the purpose. And if the fly snatched away a thing from
them, they would have no power to recover it from the fly. Weak are (both) the
seeker and the sought.)6

Prophet Muhammad r
instilled these beliefs, which have the power of freeing and purifying the
souls from any form of Shirk that may pressure people into subjugation
to, fear of, or hope in someone or something other than Allah.

It is forbidden to lower, humble, or demean oneself. “Anyone
who sits before a rich man and humbles himself before him for some worldly
gain, one-third of his religion is forfeited.”7

Any burdens, confessions,
or needs should be poured out, in private without mediators, to the Sole Source of Support:

-   “Ask Allah of His
Bounty. Truly, Allah U loves to be asked.”8

-     “Let each of you ask his Lord all his needs,
even ask (to mend) the straps of his shoes when torn.”9

-     “If only you rely on Allah with due reliance, He will provide you
with sustenance as He provides birds. They go forth hungry in the morning and
return satisfied in the afternoon.”10

-     “Any servant who says every morning and evening, ‘In the name of
Allah with Whose Name nothing on earth or in heaven can cause harm, and He is
the All-Hearing, All-Knowing’ nothing will harm them.”11

-     “Shall I teach you a word which is one of the treasures of Paradise:
There is neither might nor power except with Allah.”12

The Messenger of Allah r entered the Masjid one day where he r saw there a man from the Ansar called
Abu Umamah t.

He r
said, “What is the matter that I see you sitting in the Masjid at a time
other than Salah time?”

Abu Umamah said, “Worries
and debts I am burdened with, O Messenger of Allah.”

He r said, “Shall I teach you words which, when
you say them, Allah will remove your worry and settle your debt?”

Abu Umamah said, “Yes,
O Messenger of Allah.”

He r
said, “Say in the morning and evening,
‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief. I seek refuge in You
from inability and sloth. I seek refuge in You from cowardice and miserliness.
And I seek refuge in You from being overcome by debt or subjugated by men.’”

Abu Umamah said, “I did that and
Allah removed my worry and settled my debt.”13

Filled
with these feelings of closeness, reliance, and support, the followers of
Muhammad r lived in this New World free, with no fear of – or for – anything.
People who bowed to Allah U with humility and stood with their heads
raised before everything else.

(It
is You we worship and You we ask for help.)14